An Ominous New Ad Commemorates the Anniversary of Newtown

Elementary school children stand quietly at their desks. A school principal stares solemnly into space. A woman traces a child’s photo with her hand. These are the scenes from a new ad called “No More Silence” that commemorates the anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shooting.

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Aside from the ominous sound of a ticking clock, the only words are “On December 14, we’ll have a moment of silence for Newtown. But with 26 more school shootings since that day, ask yourself: Is silence what America needs right now?”

The ad was produced by Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns as part of the groups’ “No More Silence” campaign, which will culminate in a week of grassroots events promoting gun control. Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers are struggling to extend a national ban on (real, metal-detector-evading) plastic guns.